At about page 30 of Janek’s 50-page PowerPoint presentation, Rep. Dawnna Dukes interrupted him to say that new members of the House Appropriations Committee need to understand how little money a household of three can make and still not qualify for the coverage.

Lawmakers ought to have information on how the federal poverty level is defined, rising with the size of households, she said.

For instance, Texas covers pregnant women up to 185 percent of poverty. But it covers no able-bodied, childless adults under 65. And it covers no parents who make more than 12 percent of poverty.

Janek said he’d included a poverty level explainer in the back of his PowerPoint.

“It’s in your appendix,” he said, quickly catching himself.

“For a doctor to say, ‘It’s in your appendix’ is probably not helpful,” he admitted.

House budget writers are squabbling over whether the Medicaid health insurance program for the poor offers plush bennies and is gobbling up the state budget.

The squabble began late Monday morning when Rep. John Zerwas, R-Richmond, asked state Health and Human Services Commission overlord Kyle Janek to characterize the range of medical services covered by Medicaid.

Zerwas: “Are we accurate in saying it’s a pretty rich portfolio of benefits? Or … would you say it’s typical of what we seen in the private market?”

Janek: “It’s a fairly rich package.”

Two Democrats on the House Appropriations Committee, though, quickly objected to Janek’s adjective.